Dalton's defense has it one step from state

MASSILLON – Only because they worked so incredibly hard on defense, the Dalton High Bulldogs made this one almost look easy.

Setting the tone by holding Lisbon David Anderson scoreless in the second quarter on 0 for 10 shooting, Dalton rang up a 44-30 victory in Thursday night’s Division IV Region 13 Massillon Regional semifinal played at Perry High.

The victory moved the Dawgs (22-4) into Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. regional final against Buckeye Central (25-1), also at Perry.

The ultimate destination is the Division IV OHSAA State Tournament, to be played March 15 (semifinals) and March 17 (finals) at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University.

Dalton’s goal against the Lisbon squad that Bulldogs head coach Kate Miller called “a Cinderella team” was to shut down the outside threat of the Blue Devils’ Izzy Perez and the inside power of 5-foot-10 sophomore Maddie Liberati.

Perez had all eight of her points in the final quarter. Liberati totaled just six points, and did not score in the second half.

Dalton showed outstanding patience against Lisbon’s zone defense and had only one turnover the entire evening. The Blue Devils (17-10) had 10 miscues.

Bulldog sophomore Makenna Geiser led her team with 15 points and, just as importantly, did a number defensively by fronting Liberati as part of the winners’ smothering man-to-man defense.

“We just had some schemes we wanted to do against them and it worked out well for us tonight,” Miller said. “We thought Makenna was a little bit longer and that’s why we put her on Liberati. Makenna’s just a little bit quicker, too.”

Dalton senior Kirsten Shoup delivered 14 clutch points and it was a pair of back-to-back 3-balls from the right wing by Camille Beatty midway through the third quarter that gave Dalton a 13-point edge.

Dalton trailed 7-5 at the end of the first quarter, but by outscoring Lisbon 11-0 in the second, the Dawgs held a 16-7 halftime advantage.

Beatty’s first 3-ball with 4:10 left in the third made it 23-13 and her second bomb from the same spot with a 26-13 with 3:21 to go. It was 27-17 going into the final quarter.

Beatty scored an easy deuce after a full-court zip pass against the Devils’ press to put Dalton up 29-17 just 30 seconds into the fourth stanza. A Kirsten Shoup free throw and her ensuing layup all alone underneath gave the victors a 32-17 margin with 6:25 to go. At that point, Lisbon coach Jamie Entrikin used his final timeout, and moments later, Chloe Smith picked up her fourth personal, ultimately fouling out with just 54.7 seconds left.

With its comfortable lead, Dalton played keep-away by spreading out its half-court offense at the 2:35 mark of the fourth period. The Bulldogs sank all eight of their free-throw attempts during the final two and a half minutes.

For the game, Lisbon was 12 of 39 from the floor (30 percent). Though waiting for good shots to open up, Dalton ended the night just 12 of 42 (28 percent) from the field.

Geiser said she relished the role of stopper on defense.

‘It’s fine with me,” Geiser said. “Coach puts us in matchups she thinks will work. I just had to stay in front (of Liberati) and have help from the back side. Tonight it worked.”

As for Saturday’s regional final, Miller said it will take another balanced effort on both ends.

“They’ve got a point guard who is phenomenal with the spin dribble,” Miller said. “They also have a post player who can stretch the floor. I think we match up with each other well.”